Silas absently unlocked the latch on the window to crack it open. He could vaguely make out that there was an announcer barking orders alongside the alarm. The only words he could understand, however, where Arael's. It occurred to Silas that there was hardly any time for anything. There was only time to spare between Anders and himself because there was no other person to teach Silas what the commander of Highrose knew other than that commander himself. Everything else was a constant shuffle of people and relationships. There was no time to spare between mentors and apprentices. There was no time to spare between fellow apprentices because they were so busy with school. He was probably more likely to find a mortal's winning lottery ticket in the record-keeping section of the central library than he was likely to find any guardian's marital documents.

There was no time between guardians and their mortals.

He put a hand on his forehead―it was warm to the touch. He spun around to face Arael when he heard of the book. "I leave the reading honor to you," he said. It was Arael's book after all. Then his mind wandered. "Does that kind of bond happen between any two people?" he blurted.


Cecilia sat motionless in the dim light after Ghost's voice faded away. "If it's like that..." she murmured to herself. She only moved slightly when she noticed that one of the blue flickering plumes in the distance was actually the swishing in the wind of Beatrice's hair as she jogged toward Cecilia in the center. Cecilia bid the two silhouettes farewell on their journey to the other side and stood. "No one could stand in your place, Ghost." She paused and turned her face to the dark pastel sky. "But you've helped so many of us stand on our own in this place that maybe, just maybe, we're all enough to make up for it."

"Commander!" Beatrice shouted, finally in earshot. She bowed as she neared the commander and the silhouettes. "Reinforcements have started to arrive and the perimeter is secure. What may I tell them?"

"There is no intel on the shinigami whereabouts, so there is no need for reinforcements or the continuation of alarm. We will complete this ceremony of magic fire and then retreat."


Mars's dark brown eyes twinkled at the idea that she could be of aid. Without a second blink she leapt toward Nerva in one big skip and did as she was told, placing her hand over Nerva's. "A-am I doing it right?" she stuttered.